Betrayal from Within
by InuGhost3.0
Summary: HYDRA has one last mole within Coulson's organization. Though activating them brings more trouble then they anticipated.


Betrayal from Within

By: InuGhost3.0

**Summary:** HYDRA has one last mole inside Coulson's organization. Activating them however brings more trouble than they ever imagined.

**A/N:** **This idea came to me when I was discussing the show with Seshin. It sounded like a good idea for a story, and something that could plausibly happen. Hope you enjoy, and please feel free to review.**

Phil Coulson's face was ashen, and he knew that he would pass out soon if he did not take it easy. The bullet he'd taken wasn't fatal, but the blood loss might prove to be. There was something he was determined to do first though before he went to get patched up. He'd told May what it was and she'd given him a look before heading off to the infirmary to see if medics there could take the equipment to Agent Coulson since the man wasn't interested in taking himself to it.

Making his way to the bottom of the stairs he spied the simple chair facing the blank wall. He made his way over to it trying to ignore the burning pain in his left shoulder. Blood ran freely down his arm and dripped from his fingertips onto the ground below. Sitting down in the chair Coulson was internally grateful that the control panel for the prison was on his right side as he picked it up.

Pressing a button on the computer pad the wall of Ward's cell turned opaque revealing the man himself pacing back and forth in his cage like a trapped animal.

Ward turned his head slightly to look at the director of SHIELD but did not stop pacing. "I assume all the commotion upstairs has to do with you being shot?"

"You could say that." Coulson stated nonchalantly as he leaned back in the seat trying to make himself comfortable. "One of the perks with being director, you get shot and everyone goes into crisis mode."

Ward stopped pacing and turned towards Coulson. In his mind he was trying to figure out what had occurred upstairs and why the acting director of SHIELD would come down here to see him as opposed to getting medical treatment. "Care to share how you got shot? I know that it couldn't have been a HYDRA team. Otherwise you'd be too busy packing and making sure I was secured for transport before sitting down for an idle chat."

"I'll get to that later. First tell me what you know about HYDRA's protocol for brainwashing someone."

Filing that tidbit of information away for later Ward explained how HYDRA chose if someone was worth brainwashing or not. During his explanation Melinda May made her way down the stairs to Ward's cell. Her eyes were noticeably red and a first aid kit was held loosely in her left hand. A makeshift splint was set on her right leg proving a minor inconvenience as she made her way down the stairs and over to Coulson. Setting down the kit she gave Ward a dark look when he stopped briefly to take in her appearance. She then set about bandaging Coulson's wounded shoulder.

"So they always make use of them right away and never bother trying to send them in undercover."

"HYDRA always deemed it too dangerous. Brainwashing has proven effective in the past, but there has always been the risk of someone noticing a person's odd behavior. Even getting around that there was always the danger of it wearing off like you saw with Donnie Gill. To brainwash someone effectively enough to act as a mole while not being aware they were brainwashed is beyond HYDRA at this time."

Coulson got to his feet and stormed over to Ward's cell. He was trying his keep his features under control, yet anger and outrage were clearly visible in his eyes. "You only worked under John Garret though. So your experience with brainwashing is probably limited since Garret didn't utilize it."

"True. Garret had other ways of making people do what he wanted. He felt it was cheaper in the long run and more time efficient. Especially since the best agents can take up to a week of continual pressure to break. So tell me, which of your little group do you think HYDRA managed to brainwash?"

Coulson said nothing as he turned and walked away. Reaching the chair he picked up the screen and was about to shut Ward away once more when he paused. The agent set the pad back down and turned back to the prisoner. "Fine." His voice was slightly hoarse and he swallowed before continuing. "You want to know what happened then I'll tell you." Sitting down in the chair he turned to May. "Can you see about getting a blood bag down here? Even with these bandages I don't know if I'll be able to finish this story without passing out first."

May simply nodded before heading up the stairs leaving the first aid kit behind. For a moment Ward could have sworn that there were tears in her eyes, but the glimpse was too brief and the angle to harsh to be certain.

"I was in my office going through paperwork. Seems to be about the only thing I can do these days. Fury never told me how much there was before he handed the reins over to me." With a sigh Coulson fixated on a spot on the wall where the plaster had chipped and cracked from Ward trying to cave his head in before he continued. "I was almost through it all when a secure call came in."

_"Ah Agent Coulson, so it seems that what Agent 33 said was true you are alive and now the head of SHIELD." Whitehall's smug face only made the man's accent worse and Coulson was tempted to mute the man and leave him on hold for however long it took him to give up and end the call. _

_ "Well that would make two of us. Last I heard you were supposed to have been executed for what was it 30 crimes against humanity?" Pressing a button hidden behind his desk Coulson settled in to try and keep the HYDRA agent on the line long enough for Skye to hack the line and hopefully pull out some information on the man's organization._

_ Whitehall's smile slipped for a moment before reappearing. "Yes, well I made the proverbial deal with the devil and got let out for time served and being fully rehabilitated." _

_ "Somehow I find that hard to believe. Now if this is just a social call then you must excuse me I've got a lot of work to do before I send a team to bring you in and dismantle your organization once and for all. Unless of course you want to save me a lot of paperwork and just turn yourself in." Coulson tried to keep his attitude upbeat and pleasant even as he saw May make her way towards the room with Skye in tow. His spirits were uplifted by the laptop in the young woman's hands._

_ "Sadly this call must be anything but social. I called to give you a warning. SHIELD is dead and unless you and your fellow agents wish to join it in the grave then I'd suggest you all move on with your lives. Otherwise you and your agents will experience loss that will be nothing compared to what you have experienced so far." _

_ The door to Coulson's office opened quietly as May and Skye made their way inside. However the layout prevented them from entering unnoticed by Whitehall. _

_ Whitehall's gaze flicked to the two women and his smile became slightly broader allowing the white of his teeth to show before he turned his attention back to Coulson. "If you are so afraid of me that you need backup for a simple video chat then you have no right to run an organization. A leader must always been in control of himself and his subordinates otherwise they risk things spiraling out of control."_

_ "Good lesson, but I trust them to know the correct thing to do in a given situation. Unlike HYDRA we don't need to threaten or brainwash our operatives to work for us." Coulson turned his attention to May and Skye and gave the young woman a look silently asking if she had completed the hack._

_ Skye shook her head as she set the computer down near Coulson allowing him to see that she was making no progress due to the level of encryption._

_ "You talk about trust, but do you truly believe you can trust those who work for you? I would have thought that Garret would have successfully beaten 'trust no one' into your head after your dealings with him and Agent Ward. A pity the man failed in even providing you with a single lesson to learn from."_

_ "I'll be sure to remember that. But now if you'll excuse me I have better things to do then talk with the likes of you." Coulson got up and was about to end the call when Whitehall quickly spoke._

_ "Before you go Agent Coulson I have one last message for you. You treat your operatives as family and take the loss of each one as a painful burden. My people are nothing more than tools that serve to get the job assigned to them done in an efficient manner. They do so because they know that compliance will be rewarded."_

_ Out of the corner of his eye Coulson saw a strange look come across Skye's face as her lips moved silently. Worried that she wasn't feeling well he turned to see if she was alright. This action proved to be lifesaving. As he turned Skye freed her pistol from its holster took aim and fired at the man that was the closest thing to a father that she had. _

_ Coulson did not feel the bullet tear into his shoulder. Skye's actions, her betrayal left him feeling numb. He tried to brace himself on his desk but his arm refused to support his weight and he crashed to the floor as Skye fired again._

_ The bullet had been meant for May, but Skye had not factored on the woman sealing away her emotions and reacting on pure instinct. This allowed The Cavalry to grab hold of Skye's arm and wrench the weapon upwards directing the shot away from her. _

_ Falling behind the table Coulson struggled to see what was happening and to try and assist May. His ears were ringing and he was only dimly aware of Whitehall still talking in the background. Confident that May could handle herself the director of SHIELD focused on what Whitehall was saying so he could be sure to pay the psycho back later for each and every word._

_ "…my people still aren't sure how she managed to hack our system, but it wasn't that difficult to track her down. We simply lured her in with information about her family and once she was in our clutches…well some were arguing that we should eliminate her since she was rather useless even if she had a knack for hacking. I however saw her true value. An orphan desperately seeking out information on her parents the perfect background for a future SHIELD agent. She was quite stubborn and took longer to burn than I anticipated. Yet the fruits of my labor have proven quite sweet. After that it was a simple matter of pointing her in the direction of SHIELD and losing her like one would a bullet towards the target. It didn't matter where she hit on it, so long as she hit it. Goodbye Agent Coulson. Enjoy your coming future." There was a soft click and then the loud hiss of white noise._

_ A loud crack was heard followed by a cry of pain and Skye dropped to the floor unconscious. May fell to the ground soon after her leg twisted at an angle that left no doubt to it being broken._

_ A few tears were running down May's face as she looked towards Coulson. "That bastard is paying for this."_

"You're telling me they brainwashed Skye. This is a bad joke Coulson." Ward was fighting a losing battle to reign in his temper. He'd already taken some of his anger out on the wall of his prison and had been lucky that he'd not broken his hand.

"What I told you was the truth. HYDRA got to Skye before she popped up on SHIELD's radar. If she was truly a HYDRA agent then she's had too many opportunities in the past to take us all out since SHIELD fell. I can only guess that Whitehall planned for her to be a long term mole and only activated her because he found out she managed to get this close to me."

"So what this whole time has been an act? Every moment, every interaction? How much of that was really Skye and how much of that was her programming?" Ward asked his voice controlled. He had managed to rein his temper in and now felt drained and defeated. This was worse than when he'd been brought down by May, and certainly worse than when he'd been given the orders to kill Fitz and Simmons. Sitting down heavily on his bed he gave Coulson his full attention. "So where is Skye now?"

Looking down at the ground in defeat Coulson said "She's in lockup. We've got her heavily restrained and sedated. Fitz and Simmons are taking it really hard, and I'm not certain how long it's going to take them to pull themselves together enough to figure out how to undo everything that's been done to her. As for your other questions…well I don't know. I want to believe that up till she was activated everything had been Skye's own choosing and that she wouldn't want to be a mole for those people."

Ward thought over what Coulson said and suspected he knew why the director was here telling him all of this. A part of him had to be certain though before he allowed himself to get his hopes up. "Why are you telling me all of this?"

Coulson looked Ward in the eyes. The pain and fatigue of the last hour no longer disguised on his face. "I'm telling you all this because I am thinking of sending you to either kill Whitehall or to drag him back here so we can make him tell us how to undo the programming."

"I'm in." Ward replied without hesitation.

**A/N: Let me know if you enjoyed this. Any and all reviews are welcome. Also please tell me if you think I should continue this, or if I should lock it down in the deepest part of The Fridge so it never sees the light of day again. Oh thank you for reading this, hope you enjoy the rest of your day.**


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